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ST. LOUIS — Jaime Garcia homered and pitched 62/3 strong innings as the St. Louis Cardinals
defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 last night to clinch a tie for the second National League
wild-card spot.

A loss by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who played San Francisco late last night, or another
Cardinals win would wrap up a playoff spot for St. Louis and a visit to Atlanta for the wild-card
game on Friday. The defending World Series champions have won 11 of 14. Allen Craig had a
run-scoring double and Daniel Descalso delivered a run-scoring triple for the Cardinals.

Garcia (7-7) struck out six and allowed two runs, six hits and one walk before exiting. Three
relievers combined for 21/3 hitless innings, with Jason Motte working a perfect ninth for his 41st
save in 48 opportunities.Brandon Phillips had a two-out single in the top of the third to give the
Reds a 1-0 lead. But Garcia homered inside the right-field foul pole off Reds starter Bronson
Arroyo in the bottom of the inning and Craig put St. Louis ahead to stay with his double down the
left-field line. Yadier Molina hit a sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals a 3-1 edge.

Molina singled and scored on Descalso’s triple into the left-center field gap in the sixth.
Cincinnati got a seventh-inning run on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Hanigan.

Arroyo (12-10) allowed three runs over five innings in a tuneup for the postseason. He topped
200 innings for the seventh time but is 0-3 in his past four starts.The Reds, meanwhile, are tied
with the Washington Nationals for the best record in the NL at 96-64. The Nationals lost to the
Philadelphia Phillies last night. The Nationals, who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, can clinch
the top seed tonight if they win and the Reds lose.

Baker says he feels ‘blessed’ to be back

Dusty Baker was smiling and joking as he met the media for the first time since his medical
ordeal, but his eyes welled up when he talked about how lucky he is.

“I always had a pretty good perspective on things,” the Reds manager said. “Now, this makes me
feel more appreciative of things, my family. I feel truly blessed to be in the hospital when I had
a mini-stroke. You can’t get any more blessed than that. They way I look at it, it’s our year. We’v
e got a great support staff here. My guys did a great job while I was out.

“I was thinking the other day, everybody’s had a chance this year. ... Everybody’s had a chance
to pick each other up. That’s what kind of team we have. I feel truly blessed.

“I’m fine now. I’m not 100 percent, but I’m close.”

Baker went into the hospital on Sept. 18 to be checked for pneumonia. He was found to have an
irregular heartbeat. That was under control. He was going to be released on Sept. 21. He was
getting dressed to leave the hospital when the stroke occurred. A nurse became alarmed when Baker
couldn’t say his name.

“She said, ‘Stay right here,’” Baker said. “I said, ‘Why?’ Imagine, I could have been on the
plane in five minutes or 10 minutes. That’s why I say it ain’t my time to go.”

Baker, 63, said he never considered not returning to his job.

“It wasn’t a question for me,” he said. “It was a question for the doctors. I had to get cleared
by the doctors.”

Baker has heard from countless friends and baseball people.

“I can’t (thank them all),” he said. “But thanks a lot. A lot of people have been through this.
I didn’t know how many people were in a-fib (atrial fibrillation), which I learned a whole bunch
about. I was thinking of my family.

“I was thinking of my daughter (Natosha), who is with me now. I was thinking of my wife
(Melissa) and son (Darren), who were coming from San Francisco to celebrate with the team.”

Baker says he doesn’t have to alter his routine.

“Not really,” he said. “There’s some things I have to take care of in the winter. I’ve changed a
few things about my routine. I’m with my daughter. She has turkey burgers and couscous, all that
kind of stuff.

“I didn’t have to cut out that much. She’s making me eat breakfast now. I have never ate
breakfast. I’m going to sneak down to my watering spots to get some soul food.”

Baker missed the Reds’ celebration clinching the National League Central and Homer Bailey’s
no-hitter.